


Connection

by tsuristyle



Category: SMAP
Genre: F/M, Goro's incident, M/M, really old fic amnesty, unexpected things in common
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuristyle/pseuds/tsuristyle
Summary: It was irrational, she knew, but the Takuya she saw was so often exhausted and drained and didn't want to talk about anything, and she was jealous. She was afraid that, even though Takuya had marriedher, she might lose him to someone who had known him longer, someone who knew the depths of his heart better than her.(Shizuka and Goro have a conversation. Set in 2001, during Goro's break.)





	

_vrrr-vrrr-vrrr_

Shizuka lifted her brush in annoyance. She had recently started to try her hand at watercolor painting, and it required a lot of concentration; you had to plan ahead and pay careful attention to the brush strokes and the amount of water you used if you wanted the piece to be anything but misshapen blobs of muddled colors. It was best attempted with as few distractions as possible. The housework was done, Kokomi was in bed and hopefully asleep, and--

_vrrr-vrrr-vrrr_

\--and Takuya's cell phone was driving her nuts.

She knew who it was. He had started calling almost daily since the incident, and Takuya answered every time, talking with him late into the night, telling him everything he was doing, everything SMAP was doing. Shizuka could hear the smile in his voice, even from the other room, but when he hung up he was always quiet for a long time, his face drawn and still.

"I shouldn't keep answering," he admitted to her. "But I do."

There was something about him that she didn't quite trust, something in the way he looked at Takuya, the way he smiled and laughed around him. The way Takuya would smile back and would open up to him, talking quietly about his problems and worries, the other man seeming to catch every word with his steady dark eyes. It was irrational, she knew, but the Takuya she saw was so often exhausted and drained and didn't want to talk about anything, and she was jealous. She was afraid that, even though Takuya had married _her_ , she might lose him to someone who had known him longer, someone who knew the depths of his heart better than her.

And now, Takuya was out walking the dogs and his cell phone was buzzing incessantly on the table. So, finally, Shizuka answered it.

"He's out," she said flatly. "You don't have to keep trying."

"Oh." Goro's voice was quiet. "Sorry."

There were a dozen things Shizuka wanted to say, but then there was a bitter laugh on the other end.

"It's pretty pathetic of me, isn't it?" Goro said. "Calling like this."

It was the voice of a lonely man sitting in the dark, try desperately to hold on to whatever sense of certainty he could.

She had to close her eyes, for a moment, because if there was anyone who knew what it was like to suddenly be forced to stop doing a job you loved, to stay inside all day until you felt trapped and isolated, to wonder if one moment of reckless carelessness would really change everything you knew about your life--

"Yeah," she said softly.

Goro laughed again, but it wasn't quite as bitter. "Thanks for picking up, though." He paused uncertainly. "I guess I should go."

"Yeah," she said again, because there wasn't anything else to say. "...Inagaki-san?"

Goro hesitated. "...yeah?"

Shizuka took a breath. She knew what Goro wanted to hear, what Kimura would never say. "He misses you," she said. "He wants you to come back as soon as possible."

There was a long silence, long enough that Shizuka wondered if the connection had been lost. Finally, Goro drew a shaky breath. "Thank you."

Shizuka nodded even though Goro couldn't see her. "I should hang up before he comes back."

"...Shizuka-san?"

She waited, listening.

Goro's voice was stronger this time, more certain. "He loves you," he said, and Shizuka could hear the smile in his words, even across all the space between them. "He's happy, he really is."

Shizuka cradled the phone against her ear and thought of the way Takuya would take off his shoes quietly and pause in the hallway to check on Kokomi and the way he would come into the living room with a thoughtful look and fall asleep on the couch until she woke him up and sent him off to bed.

"I know."

She did. She really, truly did.


End file.
